ShareIt’s no surprise that staying fit and healthy tops most people’s New Year’s resolutions. But juggling a hectic schedule as a real estate professional often leaves little time to work toward personal goals. What if there was a way to incorporate fitness into your business so you could hold yourself accountable for your personal goals while meeting new clients and making deals?
Some real estate professionals have found a way to carve out a health and fitness marketing niche to get in a workout while prospecting for clients. They’ve come up with interesting ad materials that encourage them to get moving for their brand or host networking events around fitness that bring their community together. Looking for a way you can squeeze in some physical activity while drumming up business? Here are a few ideas.
First, invest in branded T-shirts. You can be a walking billboard for your business with T-shirts that advertise who you are and what you do. Wear it while you’re taking a jog through the neighborhood you farm or while you work out at the gym. It’s meant to encourage you to get out and move around more for the sake of your business. Lorie Couch, ABR, SRES, an agent with Coldwell Banker Bullard Realty in Jackson, Ga., says she has gotten leads from wearing her T-shirt to 5K races and the gym.
Then, join or sponsor a fitness event. Get a group of friends, family, or colleagues — people who would be willing to wear your T-shirts and help spread your brand awareness — together to participate in a local walk or run. Most fitness events have a charity hook, too, so there’s a bonus incentive to raise funds for a good cause while getting exercise and marketing your business. Get your brokerage to sponsor an event for even more support behind your marketing.
Find a fitness hook for your marketing. Natalie Roy with Keller Williams Realty in Arlington, Va., has developed a niche for bicycling enthusiasts who prefer to live with alternative modes of transportation. She started biking to work herself in 2013 and realized that it offered a better perspective of neighborhoods than driving. She now offers her clients the option of taking bike tours of listings (see the video above). “It’s a great way to see a community,” Roy says. “It puts me in a good mood, and it puts a smile on my clients’ faces.” She has incorporated the biking branding into all of her marketing, from her website, BicyclingRealty.com, to a sign she hangs on her bike with her brokerage name and contact information.
Start a fitness group. Consider an activity that gets you out into the neighborhood, and find friends or clients who want to join. You could start by joining an already established group, such as those on Meetup.com, and branch out from there. Couch started a walking group first with friends and later with clients. Every morning, the group walks through a popular lake community in Couch’s neighborhood. Couch says it’s a great way to keep close tabs on neighborhood activity. “Walking versus driving has allowed me to notice which houses are vacant, which are weekend lake homes and frequently in use,” she says. “I have used that to pick up listings by telling others, ‘I walk on your street every morning and noticed your home.’” She’s also found it’s a way to meet landscapers and service providers whom she can recommend to her sellers.
Connect your fitness goal to your business persona.
Emily Danner, an agent with Keller Williams Realty in Johnson City, Tenn., sets a big fitness goal for herself every year and uses it to connect with clients on social media. In 2013, she set out to powerwalk 2,013 miles throughout the year and used the hashtag #powerwalker in her social media business channels. The hashtags also allow others to track her commitment to her fitness goal and can serve as a great conversation-starter with others. In 2014, she did a Navy SEAL challenge, a series of physical fitness challenges that combine running and swimming. For 2016, she’s committing to complete six 5Ks (while wearing personalized Keller Williams shirts that have her #powerwalker logo). She’s also committing in 2016 to walk 16 miles per week with a current or past client or fellow real estate professional. “I will be using this time to build my business through one-on-ones while getting my workouts completed,” she says.
Advocate for fitness in your community.
Support causes in your community that promote health and fitness to keep yourself in the mindset of pursuing your goals. Lynn Reecer, co-owner of Reecer Properties Inc. in Fort Wayne, Ind., was instrumental in helping to get miles of walking trails created in her community. Prior to working in real estate, Reecer cofounded Aboite New Trails Inc., a nonprofit advocating for safer pedestrian and bicycle trails. She formed a 16-member board of directors and worked nine years with the city to get the trails created, raising more than $12 million for the project. Today, she uses the trails in her real estate business. “When we began, we didn’t even think of socialization as an immediate benefit through health, fitness, and recreation,” Reecer says. “People say ‘hello’ to each other when using the trails versus driving by others in a vehicle that is moving too fast. … I highlight the trails as a way to sell homes. It’s a huge advantage to buy a home by a trail system.”
